For those paying attention to the Valleywag-Boing Boing-Violet Blue corner of the blogiverse, the past few days have been a bit of a, well, clusterfuck. For those who haven’t been playing along at home, the short version of the story is this: not too long ago, Violet Blue discovered that Boing Boing had deleted all mentions of her name from their archives. Valleywag picked up the story and ran with it, revealing first that a) Violet Blue had been romantically involved with Boing Boinger Xeni Jardin, then later that b) Valleywag reporter Melissa Gira Grant was — by way of a few steps of separation — sexually linked to Violet Blue, and thus Xeni Jardin, as well as Cory Doctorow (also of Boing Boing).
Is your head spinning yet?
Now, leaving all that aside, because the last thing we want to do is weigh in on any he said, she said drama (or is it she said, she said, she said?), what we’re really curious to know is this: is revealing the sexual connections of journalists and the bejournaled good journalism, or is it — gasp! — just another terrible overshare?
To put it bluntly: does knowing that Melissa Gira Grant slept with someone who slept with Violet Blue who slept with Xeni Jardin and also had a threesome with Nick Douglas and someone who slept with someone who slept with someone who slept with Cory Doctorow actually add anything to the coverage of the story?
Full disclosure is a lovely principle, but what does it actually mean? And what do we, the public, gain from knowledge of the sex lives of the publicized?
Well, beyond the momentary cheap thrill, the flush of knowing something bad, probably not much. As it is, it seems unlikely that any sexual relationship beyond Violet and Xeni’s would actually have any bearing on the Boing Boing-Violet conflict. At the end of the day, perhaps this disclosure tells us more about the discloser than the disclosed.
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Comments
I think it’s a case of separating their journalism careers from their personal blogs. What would not be appropriate or “coverage of the story” in a venue like reporting/news is normal conversation for op-ed/diary, like valleywag, boingboing, and tinynibbles (and, apparently, here, and reginalynn.com, and everywhere else, LOL!).
I don’t think anyone is shocked or titillated anymore at the whole sex thing, heh, but I’m sure it has provided entertainment to many. Next up, someone’s going to publish a bigger chart and ask “Can you be a real sex blogger if you’re not within n degrees of sleeping with so-and-so?”
LOL
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:23 pmNext up, someone’s going to publish a bigger chart and ask “Can you be a real sex blogger if you’re not within n degrees of sleeping with so-and-so?”
We are a giant clusterfuck, no?
It’s like six degrees of Kevin Bacon. Only more fun, because it’s about fucking.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:25 pmIt’s not even about sex, it’s about credibility, and Boing Boing is missing that boat. They just don’t get you can’t keep changing your past and expecting people to believe you or listen to you. I pretty much had my say on my blog. http://burntelectrons.org/item/242
July 4th, 2008 at 12:36 amGrey: That’s all well and good, but this post isn’t about Boing Boing. It’s about the Valleywag post.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:13 amFor fuller coverage of my many (and fascinating!) opinions on subjects unrelated to me in nearly any way check out my blog!
I do love the internet.
As for the topic on deck, it’s oddly fascinating how small the Web 2.whatever community can seem, in diagram form. It’s completely a purient interest thought, like celebrity gossip. or Webebrity gossip, to use a godawful portmanteau.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:30 pmIm sure Richard is involved too.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:10 pmJesus wept. I literally cannot believe my eyes this morning, having read this complete car-crash of a story. Valleywag is a piece of pure, unadulterated thrash - scumbag blogging, by petty, bitchy, horrid little people desperate to jump on the coat tails of a larger site in the hope of a Digg hit. I couldn’t care less if Doctorow had a drug-induced Roman orgy with a gang of inter-dimensional fuck-monkeys. It’s nobody’s business but theirs. It’s their site, their property and they have every right to do whatever they want with it - and any ass-hat, retard twonk who doesn’t see this and starts defending their low-life paparazzi behaviour with protests about ‘freedom of speech’ is obviously too stupid to be allowed to breed. Valleywag should be embarrassed by this cheap, tacky pile of sleaze. What a complete pack of pricks.
July 6th, 2008 at 7:19 amLeave a reply :